Macaulay Culkin’s 36-year-old life has been one roller-coaster ride. He rose to fame as a 10-year-old beginning with his successful role as Kevin McCallister in “Home Alone” nearly 26 years ago and rode the success for four years.
By the time he turned 14 years old, he decided to quit acting as his parents seem to be doing a tug-of-war in all the money he has earned during his short but very productive interlude with Hollywood.
While he was still an in-demand actor at that time, a huge part of Macaulay’s decision to quit acting was to spite his father Kit who, despite using his money to buy pretty much everything, was never entirely satisfied.
In an interview, Macaulay said that his father was overbearing and very controlling too. He said that his father was always the way he was even before his success. He adds that his old man plays mind games to make sure that all his children know their place.
His parents finally divorced, both filing for custody, and both wanting control over Macaulay’s $11 million dollar fortune.
Realizing the root of the custody battle, the young child managed to stop his parents from getting their hands on his hard-earned cash, a move that led to his father no longer wanting to communicate with him.
Moving out of the limelight
In his private life, Macaulay dropped out of school before finishing his senior year to marry his childhood sweetheart, Rachel Miner.
They married when they were both just 17 in 1998 but, as unfortunately happens in most young marriages, separated in 2000, with their divorce finalized in 2002, details Moviepilot.
From there he entered what would become a long-term relationship with actress Mila Kunis, a Hollywood pairing people tend to forget.
After the end of his relationship with Mila in 2002, Macaulay began a dangerous descent into a debilitating drug addiction, leaving him looking gaunt and completely strung out.
But he has picked up the pieces of his shattered life some years later. In 2013, a video was uploaded to YouTube showing a healthier looking Macaulay munching a slice of pizza, which was not only a nod to Andy Warhol but also the introduction to Culkin’s next project, his band The Pizza Underground.
Focusing on covering songs by The Velvet Underground but with a pizza-based theme, the band toured extensively.
A complete turnaround
Even after he cleaned up his act, a nasty internet death hoax spread around online. But he just ignored it and continued with his complete 360-degree turnaround.
Macaulay even released some tongue-in-cheek spoofs of the projects that sparked his fame, including the short “Home Alone Sequel” that depicted a mentally damaged Kevin McCallister taking revenge on the burglars who slighted him years ago.
A few months ago, Macaulay stepped into a baffling avant-garde adaptation of “Aladdin” which included a corrupt sultan, some soviet imagery, and a flying duvet.
He recently appeared in a Compare the Meerkat advertisement and if reports are true that Mila Kunis is trying to lure him back into acting, fans might see the actor doing his stuff more on TV and films in the near future.
Incidentally, Macaulay turned 26 years old on August 26 and his former co-star Daniel Stern from “Home Alone” and “Home Alone 2” joined the well-wishers on social media with a special message, reports the Mirror of UK.
Taking into his Facebook account, the actor, who played Wet Bandit Marv in the movie, performed a nice acoustic cover of The Beatles’ rocking hit “Birthday.”